The invention relates to a method for filling an open transport box (tray) having a plurality of receiving compartments with individual portions of medicaments. Moreover, the invention relates to an output/input station for an automated storage system for medicament packs for use in a method for filling an open transport box (tray) having a plurality of receiving compartments with individual portions of medicaments.
Flat transport boxes (also referred to as trays) having a plurality of receiving compartments which are open at the top and arranged next to one another, preferably in rows and columns in matrix form, are used, for example, for the ordered supplying of selectively specified quantities of individual portions of medicaments, for example individual (or even halved) tablets or capsules, to a blister packaging machine for producing blister packs for individual patients, i.e., for automatically filling and packaging medicament dosages in individual small film bags or pockets.
Such a blister packaging machine customarily has a plurality of storage containers (for example, 50 or even several hundred), each containing large quantities of medicament portions, such as tablets or capsules, of frequently needed medicaments. One example of such a blister packaging machine is the “Rowa Dose System” by the present applicant (see http://www.rowa.de/Rowa-Dose.1072.0.html). The medicament portions provided in the storage containers are automatically individually removed in a specified number by means of computer-controlled dosing devices, and guided via slides and chutes into collection bins, each collection bin collecting the medicament portions to be filled into a bag or a pocket. The collection bins are led in succession to a packaging station, where they are initially emptied into small film bags or pockets which are still open, whereupon the bags or pockets are closed, in particular their film edges being welded. Each bag then contains the contents collected in the collection bin, which include, for example, the medicament to be taken by a patient at a specified time. The dosage time may also be printed on the bag.
In order to also be able to introduce medicament portions which are to be dispensed less frequently and are not provided in the storage containers, or also half tablets, for example, into the collection bins and thus into the bags (blisters), such a blister packaging machine has a device for which such less frequent medicaments or also partial portions (half tablets, for example) may be selectively introduced fully automatically into specified collection bins. This device is provided with the medicament portions in the above-mentioned open transport boxes (trays) in an ordered manner. For controlling this device, the control computer must know exactly which individual medicament portions are provided in which receiving compartments of the open transport box (tray). For this purpose, it is in turn necessary for the manual filling of the trays to be monitored in such a way that the correct receiving compartments are filled with the specified medicament portions according to a target filling. Errors during manual filling may occur in particular when the workstation of the operator performing filling is simultaneously provided with multiple medicament storage packs, from which the operator then removes the required number of individual portions in succession and places them in specified receiving compartments of the tray. It is possible here, for example, for the operator to inadvertently reach into the wrong medicament storage pack.
The object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a method for filling the trays which increases the reliability of correct filling, and a device which supports such reliable filling. In addition, the aim is to simplify and assist with manual filling.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a method for filling an open transport box (tray) having a plurality of receiving compartments with individual portions of medicaments, having the features of Claim 1, and by an output/input station for an automated storage system for medicament packs for use in a method for filling an open transport box (tray) having a plurality of receiving compartments with individual portions of medicaments, having the features of Claim 8.
In the method for filling an open transport box (also referred to as a tray) having a plurality of receiving compartments, preferably open at the top, with individual portions of medicaments (tablets and capsules, for example), in which the individual portions are removed from medicament packs (standard blister boxes or bottles, for example) which are provided by an automated storage system (an automated picking machine, for example), using an output/input station, firstly, (a) a control device (a control computer or a computer network, for example) is provided with a target filling of the receiving compartments of the transport box, from which the medicament packs to be removed from storage and a sequence of their removal from storage are determined (this may be carried out in advance or also continuously, depending on the availability of the packs and additional removal operations which take place in parallel). The target filling includes information concerning which medicament portions are to be inserted into the individual receiving compartments. Then, (b) a medicament pack which contains at least one individual portion of a specified medicament (i.e., a medicament pack that is complete or only partially filled) is removed from the automated storage system, in that the medicament pack is deposited on a first receiving site of the output/input station by an operator unit (a computer-controlled gripper robot, for example) of the automated storage system, and is transported to an output site by a first transport device as soon as the output site is free. Then, (c) the medicament pack is removed from the output site of the output/input station (preferably by an operator), and (d) one or more individual portions are removed from the removed medicament pack (preferably by the operator) and introduced in each case into one or more specified receiving compartments of the transport box, whereby one or more medicament portions may be inserted into each receiving compartment. The particular receiving compartment to be filled is displayed to the user by means of a display device controlled by the control device (for example, by optical and/or acoustic output of the coordinates or a position description of the receiving compartment by means of an output device of a computer, or by activating a display situated immediately next to the compartment, or by directing a light spot onto the particular compartment, etc.). In addition, the correct filling of the individual portions is monitored by the control device (for example, by proximity sensors situated on each compartment, or by computer-assisted analysis of an electronic image recorded by the tray). Subsequently, (e) the medicament pack, provided that it is partially emptied (for example, still containing at least one individual portion, whereby even higher minimum numbers may be specified), is deposited on a restocking site of the output/input station which is situated in close proximity to the output site (i.e., preferably in the access area of the same operator), and from there is transported to a second receiving site by means of a second transport device, and is accessed by the operator unit (a gripper robot, for example) of the automated storage system in order to restock the (“broken”) medicament pack in the automated storage system (whereby the control device of the storage system stores information concerning the partial emptying of the medicament pack). Lastly, (f) the steps (b) through (e) are repeated for each subsequent medicament pack until all individual portions have been filled according to the target allocation.
This procedure of the automated sequential removal from and return to storage of always only one medicament storage pack in combination with the monitored removal and insertion into the tray compartments has the advantage that removal from the wrong medicament storage packs and incorrect loading of the compartments are avoided.
One preferred embodiment of the method is characterized in that an identification affixed to the medicament pack, for example a barcode or an RFID, is read in step (b) in order to check the correctness of the removed medicament pack. This provides additional reliability.
In addition, an identification affixed to the medicament pack, for example a barcode or an RFID, is preferably read in step (d) prior to or during depositing in order to check the correctness of the medicament pack to be restocked. This also provides additional reliability, since the correctness of the pack be restocked, and thus of the operator's actions, may be checked.
One refinement of the method according to the method is characterized in that a signal which brings about the transport of the subsequent medicament pack to the output site is generated, either during removal of a medicament pack from the output site, after filling of a receiving compartment with the last individual portion removed from a medicament pack, or after placing the partially emptied medicament pack on the restocking site of the output/input station. For example, the signal which brings about the transport of the subsequent medicament pack to the output site is generated by activating an operator input device. In one alternative embodiment, the signal which brings about the transport of the subsequent medicament pack to the output site is generated by the signal which brings about the transport of the subsequent medicament pack to the output site (6).
Another refinement of the method according to the method is characterized in that the placement of a medicament pack on the restocking site is detected by triggering a further sensor, for example a photoelectric barrier. This allows automatic triggering of the further transport of the pack to be returned to storage by the second transport device, and an early clearing of the restocking site for a subsequent restocking.
The output/input station according to the invention for an automated storage system for medicament packs for use in a method for reliably filling an open transport box (tray) having a plurality of receiving compartments with individual portions of medicaments has a first transport device, a second transport device, and a control device. The first transport device may receive a medicament pack from an operator unit of the automated storage bay at a first receiving site and transport it to an output site, at which the medicament pack is available for access by an operator. Drive devices or regulating devices (motors or actuators, for example) of the first transport device drive means (conveyor belts, for example) for transporting the medicament pack and/or enabling such transport (for example, blocking at the upper end of a chute or a slide) and/or for enabling access to the output site (doors, for example). The second transport device may receive a medicament pack at a restocking site which is accessible to an operator and transport it to a second receiving site in the access area of the operator unit, whereby drive devices or regulating devices of the second transport device drive means for transporting the medicament pack and/or for enabling such transport. The restocking site is situated in close proximity to the output site. The control device (a control computer, for example) is coupled to the drive devices or regulating devices of the two transport devices and connected to a detection device for detecting a removal of a medicament pack from the output site, whereby after detecting the removal of a medicament pack from the output site, the control device causes a next medicament pack to be transported to the output site, provided that the medicament pack is already present in the first transport device; otherwise, the operator unit causes, in advance, the medicament pack to be removed from storage and provided to the first receiving site.
The output/input station according to the invention allows an automated sequential removal from and return to storage of always only one medicament storage pack, with the advantage that removal from the wrong medicament storage packs is avoided.
In one preferred embodiment of the output/input station, the drive devices or regulating devices of the first transport device drive means for enabling transport, and the means for enabling include an access block, situated between the first receiving site and the output site, which prevents further transport of a medicament pack to the output site until the control device enables this transport. This increases the reliability of the sequential output of the medicament packs. In this embodiment, it is preferably provided that the access block is an air lock with an airlock door on the inlet side and an airlock door on the output side. It is thus possible to operate the output/input station in such a way that the space containing the output site is always separate from the space containing the receiving site. The first transport device of the output/input station is preferably situated in a tunnel which passes through a wall between the automated storage system for medicament packs and a clean room, and the air lock closes the tunnel via the airlock door on the inlet side and via the airlock door on the output side. This allows a dust-tight separation of a clean room, containing the output site, from the space of the automated storage bay in which the operator unit moves.
In one embodiment, an identification device which allows reading of an identification affixed to the medicament pack is provided at the output site and/or at the restocking site. This provides additional reliability by checking the correctness of the type of medicament pack that is present at the output site or at the restocking site.
In one preferred embodiment of the output/input station, the first transport device is a first belt conveyor having a first conveyor belt and a drive, and the first receiving site and the output site are sites on the first conveyor belt. This simplifies the structural design, since the transport means itself provides the deposit surfaces for the receiving site and the output site. In addition, the second transport device is preferably a second belt conveyor having a second conveyor belt and a drive, and the restocking site and the second receiving site are sites on the second conveyor belt. In this embodiment, the first and the second conveyor belts are preferably situated in parallel next to one another and have approximately the same length. The parallel arrangement of flat belts operated in opposite directions simplifies the structural design and allows a compact design. The first receiving site and the second receiving site are then situated in a plane and directly next to one another, which simplifies the control and configuration of the operator unit which accesses them.
In one preferred refinement of the output/input station according to the invention, the first and the second conveyor belts are each situated in a tunnel which passes through a wall between the automated storage system for medicament packs and a clean room, in each case an air lock closing the tunnel via an airlock door on the inlet side and via an airlock door on the output side. This embodiment combines the mentioned advantages of the parallel belt arrangement with those of the airlock configuration.
Advantageous and/or preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention are characterized in the subclaims.